NEW FINANCIAL LITERACY, HOMEOWNERSHIP EFFORT TARGETING HMONG COMMUNITY LAUNCHED BY LOCAL COMMUNITY GROUPS, WELLS FARGO HOME MORTGAGE, FREDDIE MAC

St. Paul, MN – A new initiative designed to help more Hmong-speaking families in the Twin Cities area become homeowners was announced today by a new coalition including Community Neighborhood Housing Services, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Aurora-St. Anthony's Neighborhood Association, the Family Housing Fund, the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency and Freddie Mac, one of the nation's largest investors in residential mortgages.

The Twin Cities Southeast Asian Homeownership Initiative was created to address many of the critical homeownership challenges facing Minnesota's fast-growing Hmong community. These challenges include a lack of bi-lingual information about homebuying and mortgage finance, language and cultural barriers, and a lack of a credit history. The Twin Cities Southeast Asian Homeownership Initiative is the first Freddie Mac initiative to focus on the Hmong community.

Hmong homeownership rates in Minnesota trail those of other groups. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's latest statistics, the Hmong homeownership is about 50 percent, compared to 77 percent for all Minnesota households. At the same time, the Hmong population in Minnesota has grown to an estimated 42,000 people, the most of any state other than California. More than half of Minnesota's Hmong community lives in the St. Paul area.

"Freddie Mac puts its mission to expand homeownership first. That's why we are excited to launch our first ever effort to help America's Hmong families to enjoy the same homeownership opportunities as other families," said Freddie Mac. "We are delighted to join forces with Community NHS, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, and the other members of the coalition to launch this important new effort to demystify the homeownership process for more Minnesotans facing unique language barriers."

One of the nation's largest investors in residential mortgages, Freddie Mac invested nearly $62 billion in mortgages in Minneapolis and St. Paul, over the past five years, helping an estimated 418,000 area families to become homeowners.

Flexible Mortgage Financing

Wells Fargo Home Mortgage will provide affordable mortgage financing with flexible underwriting for qualified borrowers that includes acceptance of non-traditional credit references and other credit challenges. As a result, homebuyers may obtain mortgages that require zero cash from their own funds.

"Wells Fargo has dedicated itself to serving the needs of minority and immigrant homebuyers," said Choua Yang, home mortgage consultant for Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. "By reaching out to the Hmong community, we are able to bring the dream of homeownership to those who may not otherwise have had access."

Freddie Mac expects to purchase as much as $15 million in eligible mortgages from Wells Fargo Home Mortgage ensuring a continuous supply of mortgage funds for additional homebuyers.

Comprehensive Homebuyer Counseling in Hmong

The new initiative is designed to open the home buying process for Hmong families by providing face-to-face homebuyer education and financial and debt management counseling in English and in Hmong through Community NHS. "Community NHS is pleased to work with Freddie Mac and Wells Fargo Mortgage on this initiative," said Cynthia Paulson, Executive Director of Community NHS. "This relationship will serve our community development mission by enhancing our outreach and education efforts to create new homeownership opportunities for the families of St. Paul."

A sophisticated information kiosk will also be placed in the heart of St. Paul's Hmong community. The kiosk will deliver clear, easy-to-follow web-based information about homebuying and mortgage lending in English, with introductions in Hmong and in English.

The kiosk will be placed at the Lexington Library, a branch of the St. Paul library system that is located in the heart of the Hmong community. This web-based information will also be available on computers located at the Ronald M. Hubbs Center for Lifelong Learning, an adult education agency serving St. Paul's immigrant community.

Freddie Mac is also providing Community NHS with CreditSmart^® nationally renowned financial literacy curriculum will be available to consumers through a series of workshops in order to provide a long-term solution to the obstacle of understanding and properly managing credit. This is the first time that CreditSmart is being offered to Minnesota residents.

CreditSmart consists of eleven modules that help consumers obtain the knowledge and skills necessary to effectively manage their money and to positively impact their credit. The modules cover the following topics: Managing Your Money, Banking Services, Goal Setting, Your Credit and Why it is Important, Establishing and Maintaining Good Credit, Understanding Credit Scoring, Thinking Like a Lender, Avoiding Credit Traps, Restoring Your Credit, Planning for Your Future, and Becoming a Homeowner.

Prospective homebuyers who want to take advantage of the new initiative should contact Community NHS at (651) 292-8710.

Freddie Mac is a stockholder-owned corporation chartered by Congress in 1970 to create a continuous flow of funds to mortgage lenders. By supplying lenders with the money to make mortgages and packaging the mortgages into marketable securities, Freddie Mac sustains a stable mortgage credit system and reduces the mortgage rates paid by homebuyers. Over the years, Freddie Mac has opened the doors for one in six homebuyers in America and two million renters.

Wells Fargo Home Mortgage is a leading originator and servicer of residential mortgages. Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, a division of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., is based in Des Moines, Iowa, and is a subsidiary of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC). Wells Fargo Home Mortgage serves all 50 states through the leading mortgage lending network in the country, with a presence in more than 1,900 mortgage and Wells Fargo bank stores and on the Internet. Combined, its retail and wholesale lending operations provided funding for approximately one of every eight homes financed in the United States in 2003.*

Community NHS is an affiliate of the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation, a member of the Neighborworks Network, and a member of the Home Ownership Center. Community NHS is certified by the U.S. Treasury Department as a Community Development Financial Institution.

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